Why Australia Won’t Have a Recession Any Time Soon

That figure is how much the second stage refurbishment of Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne is going to cost.

The Age reported on the development on Wednesday. It will include a new eastern entrance ‘pod’, a new footbridge to link the centre to the CBD, and a revamped loading bay.

The work is due to begin after the next Australian Open. It’s due for completion in 2019.

There is so much development happening right now across the country, the Australian economy is highly likely to keep humming along.

Don’t let the swings in the stock market distract you or spook you out of your positions.

20,000 dwellings in a new Sunshine city

Let’s not forget up in Queensland on the Sunshine Coast that Stockland [ASX:SGP] plans to invest $1 billion in local infrastructure over the next 10 years as part of its Aura development.

We’re talking a new city here, including 20,000 dwellings, plus education centres and hospitals over 2360 hectares of land.

Further north, the $50 million Cairns Aquarium and Reef Research Centre is officially under way. Not only that, but according to the Australian Financial Review this morning, you can add:

‘…a $45 million adventure water park; the $200 million refurbishment and redevelopment of the Sheraton Mirage Resort in Port Douglas; a $23 million upgrade of the Tobruk Memorial Pool into an aquatic and leisure centre; and a $65 million Cairns Performing Arts Centre due for completion in early 2017.’

There should be plenty of people to enjoy all the new facilities too, if the latest tourist numbers stay like they currently are.

New flights between Brisbane and Tokyo have upped the number of Japanese tourists coming here. The Australian Bureau of Statistics says figures were up 18% for September. For all international visitors, the figure was up 10%.

The number of Chinese visitors grew 23.9%

A lower Aussie dollar no doubt makes the beaches, the beer and barbecues even more compelling than a Paul Hogan ad.

Perhaps Tourism Australia should run those Hogan ads in China. They never would have seen them the first time around. TV sets were in short supply in China back then. So were outbound tourists.

How do you say ‘shrimp’ in Mandarin?

This is hardly the stuff of a coming recession.

And that’s just in Australia. Things overseas look even more bullish.

Here’s a taste…

Property developer British Land just announced plans for a £2 billion redevelopment of a 46 acre site in South East London. It’s going to take a decade to build. Construction is due to start in 2017.

Not only that, but according to the Financial Times, ‘Rival developer Sellar Property Group is seeking to build 1,000 homes on a neighbouring site, including some in a 40-floor tower.’

This is all just boring old property development. Wait until you hear about the really exciting stuff…

The future is R2-D2 on steroids

The Guardian reported last Friday that Toyota is going to invest US$1 billion in a research company it’s setting up in Silicon Valley.

Its mission: develop artificial intelligence and robotics, and make Toyota the market leader in these spaces.

This is not science fiction. It’s already here. Take this from the article:

‘Toyota has already shown an R2-D2-like robot that scoots around and picks up things for people, designed to help the elderly, the sick and people in wheelchairs. It has also shown human-shaped entertainment robots that can carry on conversations and play musical instruments.’

And let’s not forget the latest announcements from Apple. CEO Tim Cook thinks the PC is dead. He has the iPad Pro to prove it, too.

In one sense, that’s a surprising statement because Apple actually increased desktop sales year on year.

But it was the only company to do so. According to technology research firm Gartner, PC sales have dropped 9.5% over the past year.

Apple isn’t short of money to find out the answer, anyway.

Apple is now sitting on $207 billion in cash. Apparently, it’s the first corporation to ever cross the $200 billion mark.

There are huge gains building in the world. To start capitalising on them, click here.

Callum Newman

Callum Newman is the editor of The Daily Reckoning and Associate Editor of Cycles, Trends and Forecasts. He also hosts The Daily Reckoning Podcast.
Originally graduating with a degree in Communications, Callum decided financial markets were far more fascinating than anything Marshall McLuhan (the ‘medium is the message’) ever came up with.
Today Callum spends his day reading and researching why currencies, commodities and stocks move like they do. So far he’s discovered it’s often in a way you least expect.
To have Callum’s thoughts and insights on the current state of the currency, commodities and stock markets delivered straight to your inbox, take out a free subscription to The Daily Reckoning here.

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